Filip Smartwatch For Kids Would Even Appeal to Adults

Adults who like simplicity, anyway. This probably won’t be the smartwatch of your Dick Tracy dreams, but if you just want to call someone using your watch just for the sake of doing it, Filip can handle that.

But, make no mistake – Filip is designed from the ground up with kids in mind. The engineers behind the watch did an impressive job cramming in GPS and GSM antennas into a pretty small device, and both functions are used to good ends. Five numbers can be programmed into the watch, which can be dialed kind of like speed dial – kids can wheel through numbers one through five to make a 2-way call. Kids who get lost or feel threatened can press the red emergency button, which sends out a location beacon, starts recording audio, and attempts to call numbers one through five. If none of those numbers can be reached, parents have the option of programming the watch to contact emergency services.

Everything else is for the parents. The Filip app acts as a control hub for the watch, allowing parents to program those speed dial numbers. The app is also where parents can track any GPS information being transmitted from the watch. Geofencing can be used to create safe zones for kids, which can be used in two ways. Parents can make an intended destination, like school, a safe zone, or they can make their child’s current location (home) a safe zone. Notifications will be sent when kids leave and enter safe zones, so parents will know immediately if their child isn’t where they expect them to be. The last little bonus in the app is that parents can send short text messages to Filip, so they can tell their kids that they need to stop playing computer games, or come to dinner, or whatever else needs to be told. Best part is, they can’t reply. Not by using Filip, anyway.

GPS by itself would probably get the job done for tracking, but Filip actually uses GPS, cell towers, and Wi-Fi triangulation together to pinpoint the exact location of Filip at any time, which is another pretty impressive feat of engineering and design.

Filip looks like it has the potential to put a lot of hearts at ease if it’s used to its fullest. It’s a reassuring backup for any parent, and with child safety, you can never have too many backups. Filip is available in green, red, yellow, and blue, and is water and dust resistant. There’s no word yet on when Filip will launch, or for how much, but you can sign up to be notified when that information is released on the Filip website.